Effect of Physical Exercise-Based Rehabilitation on Long COVID: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Chen Zheng, Xiang-Ke Chen, Cindy Hui-Ping Sit, Xiao Liang, LI Ming-Hui, Alvin Chun-Hang Ma, Stephen Heung-Sang Wong- Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
- Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
ABSTRACT
Purpose
The number of persons living with post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) conditions or long COVID continues to rise worldwide; however, the etiology and treatment of long COVID remain nebulous. Therefore, efficient, feasible, and cost-effective therapeutic strategies for a large population with long COVID remain warranted. Physical exercise-based rehabilitation is a promising strategy for long COVID, although its therapeutic effects remain to be determined. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine the effects of physical exercise-based rehabilitation on long COVID.
Methods
The electronic databases Medline, Embase, Global Health (Ovid), CINAHL (EBSCO), Web of Science, WHO Global Research Database on COVID-19, LitCovid, and Google Scholar were searched from their inception to November 2022. The identified articles were independently screened by three reviewers, and a random-effects model was utilized to determine the mean differences in the meta-analysis.
Results
Twenty-three studies involving 1,579 individuals who had COVID-19 (752 women) were included. Physical exercise-based rehabilitation showed beneficial effects on long COVID-related symptoms characterized by dyspnea, fatigue, and depression, as well as on the 6-minute walk test, forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced vital capacity, and quality of life in people who had COVID-19.
Conclusions
Physical exercise-based rehabilitation is a potential therapeutic strategy against long COVID and can be applied as a routine clinical practice in people who have recovered from COVID-19. However, customized physical exercise-based rehabilitation programs and their effects on specific types of long COVID require future large-scale studies.